1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to radiation dosimetry techniques.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Different applications require different types of radiation dosimetry techniques. Active dosimetry including gas counters, scintillator detectors and electronic dosimeters based on p-i-n semiconductor diodes allow for instant monitoring of radiation dose and dose rates, but are relatively expensive. Passive radiation detectors and techniques for measuring the acquired doses are simpler and provide less expensive solutions for low risk radiation environments. Some currently used passive detector technologies are: photographic and photochromic films, radio-photoluminescent (RPL) glasses, thermoluminescent detectors (TLD) and optically stimulated luminescent (OSL) detectors. The first three technologies allow for non-destructive and multiple readout but do not provide high sensitivity of radiation dose measurements. The last two (TLD and OSL) provide extremely high sensitivity and wide dynamic range but the readout is destructive.
Therefore, there exists a need for better method of measuring a dose of ionizing radiation.